How Jesse Jackson was shaped by Southern segregation − and went on to reshape American political life

A civil rights activist who ran for president twice and became a Democratic power broker, Jackson was an American political icon. But above all, he was a Southerner.

By: Gibbs Knotts, Coastal Carolina University and Christopher A. Cooper, Western Carolina University, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: February 17, 2026

Words: 1,553

Last Updated: 3 weeks, 4 days ago

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By Gibbs Knotts, Coastal Carolina University and Christopher A. Cooper, Western Carolina University

Holding hands with other prominent Black leaders, the Rev. Jesse Jackson crossed the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 9, 2025, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday.” Like several survivors of that violent day in 1965, when police brutally attacked civil rights protesters, Jackson crossed the bridge in a wheelchair.

Jesse Louis Jackson was born Oct. 8, …

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